Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Sachin has since retired – still he is in the middle … now media is ripe
on his forthcoming book in which he has written about Greg Chappel – that he
offered Sachin to lead in WC 2007 … since denied by Greg. If it were to be a toss to believing one – Sachin’s
track record of 24 years – the way he played the game and Greg’s track record –
provides only one easy option, that of simply believing Sachin. But coming as it did on the eve of his book
release [and the fact that we have ridiculed other’s making such sensational
claims] appears stirring a controversy too late.

In Nov. 2013, close on his
retirement, I had posted on young Prithvi Pankaj Shaw – for long the school
record was that of Sachin – an unbeaten 326; Vinod Kambli’s 349 and their 664
partnership in a school match – playing for Shardashram Vidyamandir against St
Xavier's in Feb 1988; the Xavier’s attack was
led by Sairaj Bahutule. The was
another prodigiously talented Amol Muzumbdar, who played for Andhra, Mumbai and
Assam waited patiently not only there but also for National recognition which
never came.

18 years later in Nov 2006
– Kambli, Sachin record was broken when St. Peters High School made 721 without
loss in 40 overs against St. Philip’s High School at Hyderabad. Openers Manoj Kumar and Mohammed Shaibaz,
both 13, hit an unbeaten 320 and 324 respectively in the Hyderabad Cricket
Association Inter-School Under-13 tournament.
In 2011, another youngster came to limelight… it was Maharashtra’s middle order leftie –
Vijay Hari Zol who was later signed up by RCB too. In an U19 match for Maharashtra, Zol scored
an unbeaten 451 off 467 deliveries, batting for almost eleven hours and hit 53
boundaries and two sixes in that record-breaking innings.

Prithvi Shaw, a 14-year-old
from Mumbai, entered the record books after smashing 546 runs - the highest
score by an Indian batsman in minor cricket - during a Harris Shield match at
the Azad Maidan in Mumbai. Shaw's innings lasted 367 minutes over two days and
included a whopping 85 fours and five sixes which helped his team, Rizvi
Springfield, take an 899-run first-innings lead in the A division match against
St Francis D'Assisi.

A couple of days back, The Hindu reported of the innings of
S. Sankruth Sriram who struck a brilliant unbeaten 486 as JSS International
School thrashed Hebron School by a whopping 563-run in the Nilgiris District
Cricket Association (NDCA) under-16 inter-school cricket tournament for the
Azhar Hassan Memorial Rolling Trophy. The
15-year-old class X student smashed 46 boundaries and 23 sixes on his way to a
record score in the three-decade old tournament. “I did not expect to score
this big. I started to whack from the very first ball,” said Sankruth, who was
also selected to represent the Nilgiris and the combined districts team.

Sankruth shared a record unbroken stand of 605 with S. Dhanush Priyan
(70 n.o.) for the opening wicket. Later in the day, Dhanush, an off-spinner,
bowled a brilliant spell of 6/22 to
bundle out Hebron for a paltry 42.

Not all of
them raise to play at National level is
perhaps something anxious parents who push their wards no end to achieve
such things should understand.

In International
scene, at least 10 players have made 400
or more…. Topping the list is Brian Lara with 501 not out against Durham in
June 1994; followed by Haniff Mohamad’s 499 in 1959 against Bahwalpur; Don
Bradman’s 452 n.o against Queensland…. Indian BB Nimbalkar scored 443 n.o
against Kathiwar playing for Maharashtra in 1948. While Brian Lara made unbeaten 400 in a Test
in Apr 2004 against England, the next
Indian is Sanjay Manjrekar who made 377 against Hyderabad in Apr 1991 and MV
Sridhar of Hyderabad who made 366 against Andhra in Jan 1994.